The present invention relates generally to teaching aids and learning tools for children and, in particular, to a book and a tool for teaching early learning skills.
Young children are typically taught to read by associating the names of the letters of the alphabet with the shapes of the letters. Likewise, children may be shown words and taught to associate them with pictures of the objects that the words represent. Some educational toys teach the letters of the alphabet by encouraging the children to physically associate an object shaped like a given letter with a printed representation of the letter. For example, a book is provided having a plurality of pages each with a number of recesses shaped to receive the corresponding letter-shaped objects. The child is encouraged to memorize the shape of the letter and associate the letter-shaped object with the letter-shaped recess in the book.
While such devices are useful, they do present a number of limitations. For example, each recess in the book, while it is similar to the printed word, is not a printed representation. Naturally, the pages of the book themselves present the disadvantage of being relatively expensive to manufacture. In use, the letter-shaped objects are retained in the pages of the book by gravity or friction. When friction is used to retain the letters, the limited area of the letter-shaped object available to the child makes grasping difficult. Similarly, in the event that only gravity is used to retain the letters, movement of the book with the letters in it is likely to result in the letters sliding out of place or falling from the book.
As a solution to these inconveniences, it has been suggested that a separate device be used for storing the letters, which device may either be integral with or separate from the book. Likewise, books have been designed in which natural static electricity is used to adhere the objects to the page. However his method is suitable only for very thin flexible overlays. Such thin objects are difficult for children to grasp and function poorly as teaching devices because their shape is often not retained, due either to inherent flexibility or breakage and wear.
There is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,390 an educational book-like toy that includes a plurality of pages wherein letters may be removably adhered over corresponding shapes on colored pages utilizing Velcro hook and loop fasteners.
However, it remains desirable to provide an improved apparatus or device to aid in teaching youngsters to recognize letters, numbers, shapes, colors, as well as learning to read, how to spell, how to perform basic arithmetic and the English language.